Marcelo Bielsa has delivered some very bad news for Leeds supporters in his pre-match press conference before the West Ham clash.
The Argentine revealed that Robin Koch will be sidelined for three months after requiring surgery to solve a knee injury.
Leeds Live quote Bielsa as saying: ‘The surgery went well. The length of his absence depends on the evolution, but he’s likely to be out for around three months.’
Interestingly, as the BBC recount, Leeds revealed that the centre-back actually sustained the damage in the opening day defeat to Liverpool.
However, the Yorkshire-based side were able to delay any significant decision on the 24-year-old’s injury, and he went on to register 11 Premier League starts.
Koch then worsened the problem against Chelsea, which now means he must go under the knife to solve the issue for good.
That is very bad news for Leeds and the Elland Road faithful, as the German has been excellent since his £13 million move from SC Freiburg in the summer.
As WhoScored shows, the Leeds No.5 records two interceptions, 2.1 clearances and 1.6 tackles per game in the Premier League.
He isn’t just a no-nonsense defender, however. Koch’s passing ability is crucial to the way in which Leeds want to play.
The German registers 3.2 accurate long-range passes per game, while also recording 61.5 passes in every Premier League outing with a success rate of 87.1%.
The likes of Luke Ayling, Liam Cooper, Pascal Struijk and Diego Llorente are good enough to provide cover, although Koch’s Ben White-esque displays will be a big loss.
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